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AG churches spared as tornadoes tear through Midwest, South

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 - 4:23 PM CST

In a week filled with severe weather, multiple communities
in the Midwest and South were devastated by powerful tornadoes that left death
and destruction in their wake.

According to reports, more than three dozen people have died
and hundreds have been injured due to the tornado outbreaks, which began last
week in Kansas and Missouri and then continued into Illinois, with a another
tornado-generating weather system striking farther east later in the week, from
Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky to Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.

Yet despite several communities being "wiped out,"
AG districts are so far reporting that no AG churches have reported any
significant damage. In some cases, district leaders are sharing remarkable
stories.

Kentucky District Superintendent Joe Girdler reports that
they have communities that are "hardly there" anymore. Yet, he's been
told of two instances where a tornado either went around or over the top of
churches, sparing them any damage, while buildings around them were destroyed.

"We have churches already bringing in food and water
into hard-hit areas, with many others standing by with work teams ready to roll,"
Girdler says. "At this point, we know of no AG churches or pastors' homes
that have been damaged, but there are some communities that we have not heard
from [as phone service is down]."

The Ohio District reports a similar experience as in
Kentucky. The River of Life (AG) in Moscow, Ohio, was at the center of the
storm, but wasn't damaged while everything around it was. The church now serves
as command central for volunteers and supplies.

First Assembly of God in Dallas, Georgia, was able to
respond to the needs in its tornado-torn community as well. The previous night,
the church had prepared soup and sandwiches to do ministry in Atlanta, but when
the tornado hit, plans were changed and they were able to provide food and
water to workers and families in the area.

According to the Illinois District Office, churches are
responding to the tornado that nearly wiped out the community of Harrisburg.
Abundant Life Assembly in nearby Marion has been providing food and water, and
has offered their facility to use as a storehouse for supplies. Other churches
are also offering work crews when officials permit them in.

In addition to church response, the Convoy of Hope is also
present in multiple locations. "As the most recent tornadoes were touching
down, we had trucks - full of food, water and emergency supplies - on the
road headed to areas that forecasters projected to be hit," Karen Benson,
director of Global disaster Response for Convoy of Hope, says. "As soon as we get the green light
from local officials, we will begin setting up mobile distribution sites and dispatching
debris removal teams."

As Kentucky's Joe Girdler said, "there are many churches,
too many to name them all, that have opened their doors and are responding to
the need." The same could be said in most if not all the districts where
tornadoes struck. Although there have been no reports of AG churches hit by the
tornadoes, AG members and their extended families and communities have suffered
deep losses - and churches are doing their best to provide compassionate care
for victims and workers.